Following the passage and implementation of the Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Bill, Nigeria is projected to increase its export proceeds by $2 billion from seeds export, according to the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).
The increase is expected over the next five years as the country makes efforts to establish a well-functioning and regulated PVP system that will boost local high-quality seed breeding activities.
NESG, in a statement signed by Yinka Iyinolakan, its head of Corporate Communications, commended the federal government for signing the PVP bill into law.
NESG noted that it was one of the parameters for economic diversification and growth, adding that beyond boosting the country’s export profile, internal seed breeding would boost the agricultural sector.
“The passage and implementation of the PVP Bill will give plant breeders intellectual property over a new plant variety, with exclusive rights to commercialize seed.
“Once it is fully implemented Nigeria will move from generating $0 from seeds export to generating well over $2.0 billion from seeds export within the first five years,” NESG said in the statement.
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It further said that a well-functioning PVP system would attract foreign companies to introduce high-quality improved varieties which will promote marketing of new varieties and allow breeders to earn back the considerable costs involved in the long process of variety development without fear of imitation.
The NESG urged that following the signing, the government, the National Agricultural Seeds Council, players in the food and agriculture seeds ecosystem, trade and investment space, science, sustainability and digital innovation network and other stakeholders should ensure implementation guidelines are properly set while ensuring that critical aspects of the bill are effectively implemented.
“We believe that the measures set out in the PVP Act will create a more appropriate system that meets today’s realities, improve the business environment and general agricultural performance across the economy as a whole,” the NESG said.
It said it would continue to partner with stakeholders in the agricultural ecosystem and other sectors to improve the PVP Act and ensure it is beneficial to plant breeders, smallholder farmers and every stakeholder in the Nigerian agricultural ecosystem.
The PVP Bill was passed by the House of Representatives on December 17, 2020 and the Senate on March 3, 2021, following several months of deliberation. It was signed into law on May 21, 2021.
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